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Washington football coaching rumors: 'Nothing to talk about," says Justin Wilcox

Justin Wilcox's transformation of the Washington defense had his name coming up in head coaching conversations, but Wilcox says there's nothing to it.

By Pete Holby
Steve Dykes

Washington Huskies defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox is a name that has surfaced in some coaching discussions, but Wilcox has reportedly said that there's "nothing to talk about." Cal was the foremost school that was reported to be considering hiring Wilcox.

Wilcox achieved a massive transformation of the Husky defense in 2012, reducing the average number of points given up per game by nearly two touchdowns, from 35.9 points per game in 2011 to 23.8 in 2012 The change in run defense was modest but the passing defense improved significantly, yielding nearly 100 fewer yards per game. (284.6 in 2011 and 188.9 in 2012).

That kind of defensive improvement would make a big difference at Cal, who ranked 98th among FBS teams with 33.1 points yielded per game.Three of Cal's losses were by 10 or fewer points, and winning those games would have brought the program to a .500 record and six wins.

The Huskies finished 2012 7-5 and will play the Boise St. Broncos in the Maaco Bowl. Cal finished the year 3-9.